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The many years of African-American struggles to get dignity, respect as well as equality are the central themes in a new music video released by Chillicothe's John (JT) Gray.
John's father, Pastor Troy Gray of Zion Baptist Church, says he asked John to put into words and a song what he was feeling in light of the recent national unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, at the hands of a police officer.
Pastor Gray stated: “The reason for the song is the pain of what’s happening now. I asked him to write down how he’s feeling as a young African-American male with everything that’s going on and to put it into a song. I told him to make his voice count. He did, and got it produced and releasing this morning" (June 3rd).
Troy Gray concluded by saying: "This is the first time he’s ever produced a song. He was very passionate and happened within a few days.”
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John said he was feeling frustration and anger, and at first was thinking of an angry post on social media. But, after speaking with his father, his dad told him to put his thoughts into a song, which he did, along with producing a music video in less than one week's time.
John is a case manager at Lighthouse Youth and Family Services, who works with young people on court probation in an attempt to get them on track to a productive life.
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John Gray's thoughts can be heard in our podcast interview at the bottom of this article.
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To watch the video "Wash, Rinse and Repeat", go to Facebook link provided below....
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Listen to our interview with John (JT) Gray in the podcast link found below....